Invincible
by MUSiCHiGH
Summary: Emma and Manny are going on a weekend trip together to Wasaga Beach, just the two of them before school starts. They bump into an old friend and things evolve from there. Just read and you'll see! I'm not good with summaries.
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place during the summer, about late July, after Season five and before Season six. I'm probably not going to follow the exact storyline of the show, so bare with me.

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"You know I've always dreamed of going on a trip alone with no parental supervision." Manny squealed, "Think of all the things we can do with all of the the open campgrounds, the lake, the beach the people, the -"

"Boyfriends. Manny, think about Peter and Craig. Just because we're going to be exposed to a bunch of half naked hotties doesn't mean anything." Emma started up the engine in her mother's old red explorer and looked at her best friend thoughtfully. "Think of it as a little get away. A little girl time, with no boys. Think of it as -"

"Okay, Em. You can quit it now. You're starting to sound like Raditch."

Emma bit her lip and pulled out of the driveway, waving goodbye to her mom, Snake and little brother Jack. She started driving slowly down the streets of Toroto until she had finally hit the open roads to Wasaga Beach. She had always gotten a good dose of butterflies whenever someone mentioned Wasaga, but now that she was with Peter she set any thoughts of Sean aside and focused on the decent campground Peter's father had mentioned to them.

Manny set her feet on the dashboard and put her headphones on her ears. Moments later, she pulled them down again and grumbled. "Is there any way we can stop and get batteries?"

"Manny, you know me. Once I start, I never stop. Same goes for driving. We can pull over once we get in Wasaga, but for right now just use my ipod."

"And listen to your crappy hippy music?" Manny grabbed the small, white ipod from Emma's purse and untangled the earphone strings. "Save the whales, save the whales, stop making lamps out of them, save the whales!"

Emma couldn't help but laugh, "Hey, shut up! Stick to acting."

The two of them sat in silence for the next hour and a half while Manny hummed quietly to Emma's ipod. Every so often they would make small talk about random cars that drove by, their boyfriends, or what they were going to do when they got to the beach.

"I really need a tan." Manny said, examining her arms and legs and sighing, "I look like a ghost."

"Talk about ghost? Look at my legs. I look like I'm from the stone age. They didn't have tanning oil back then, you know."

"Obviously not." She stopped for a few moments and then practically jumped in her seat, making Emma turn her head quickly. "Hey! Does Peter know that your ex-boyfriend lives in Wasaga Beach?"

"Gosh Ma - Yea, he does, but he doesn't care. Like Peter said, 'It's a lot of people in one place, there's a one in a million chance you'll actually run into him.'"

"And what if you do?"

Emma shrugged, "Not a big deal. It'll be running into an old friend again, there's nothing wrong with that." She sped up and turned off one of the exits on the side of the road. She pointed at a large sign on her right, "Welcome to Wasaga Beach! There's a gas station here, we can stop and get your batteries."

The two girls pulled into the driveway of the gas station and drove next to one of the pumps; Emma turned off the engine. She assigned Manny to get some gas while she went inside and paid. She stood by the counter and put $20 on her tank and waited for the gas to ring up while Manny took her time with the gas. She had always been slow when it came to doing this. Emma finally paid for the gas and batteries and then joined her best friend outside again.

It was nearing one o'clock and the sun was high in the sky, heating the earth beneath it. Emma fanned herself and pulled her hair off her neck as she walked back to her nice, air conditioned car. Manny immitated Emma, who laughed and let her hair fall down upon her back gracefully.

"Is that who I think it is?" Manny pointed behind her toward the car garage.

Emma turned her head quickly, looking over her shoulder at a young man sitting in the car garage. The garage was only fifteen feet or so away, but the features of the man stood out quite well. He had large muscles which bulged slightly in his blue uniform and a grey, grease covered towel hung over his shoulder. He had soft facial features and slightly long, curly hair, but even then his identity was easily identifiable. His face was in awe.

"Emma Nelson, what brings you to Wasaga Beach?" The familiar voice of Sean Cameron called from the garage.

He walked just the same, he smiled just the same, his voice even sounded the same. It had been almost a year and a half since Emma last saw him and even after all this time, she couldn't help but feel anxious to talk to him again, to hug him again, and to smell his grease-filled hair again. After all, this was the first boy she danced with, her first boyfriend, the first boy she kissed, the first boy who ever really took her breath away, the boy who saved her life, and for all Emma knew, this was the first boy she had really, maybe, possibly fallen in love with.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sean Cameron, what brings you to this.. place?" Emma retorted, trying to mimic her old friend. She knew she sounded stupid and Manny was making it obvious.

"Nice one, Em."

He was walking slowly at first, then hustled into a slight jog. Sean's face matured while he was away; his jawline became more chiseled, his eyes became deeper, he even grew a litttle stubble along his chin and overall, he looked more of like a man than a boy. Emma liked this about him.

"Cars." Sean answered, "You know I love cars."

"Always have." Emma smiled.

"You never answered me, what brings you two here?" Sean asked again, digging his hands into his pockets. That had always been a nervous habit of his and Sean was rarely ever nervous. Emma could remember him doing that the first time they kissed. "It's not everday you see two of your old best friends in Wasaga. Kind of a long drive."

"We wanted to get out. You know, get away from the family, lay out on the beach, have a little fun. Enjoy summer."

Sean smiled and nodded, "Yea, cool. Well listen, my friend is having a bonfire tonight if you want to come. I mean, you two have your own plans, but it'd be nice if you showed up. Even if it was only for a couple of minutes"

"Yea, we'll see if we can make it." Emma assured him. She asked the address, which Sean wrote down on a tiny piece of paper Emma kept in her purse. Happily, she thanked him. "We've really got to be going though. I'll see you later, Sean. It was really nice seeing you again."

"Yea, you too." Sean watched Emma and Manny climb back into the car. He drew his breath as the engine started and began pulling away. It had been so long since he'd last seen Emma and even thinking back on how he left made him so angry. _You're such an idiot Sean, nice one._

"What was that?" Manny asked, annoyed as the car rolled on toward the park where the two of them were staying. "'Oh Sean, how I love you so.'"

"I never said that."

"Em, it was written all over your face."

Emma couldn't help but laugh, "Manny I'm with Peter. Sean and I are over and we're just friends. That's the way it's always going to be. Yes, it was nice seeing Sean and he's always going to have a place in my heart, but we're just friends." She couldn't help but laugh. It was more of a nervous laugh, the laugh that Emma Nelson usually never managed. She was always confident in her decisions and something told her that this was a huge mistake; she couldn't get Sean out of her head. This had to stop though - she _was_ with Peter and her and Sean were _just friends_.

They arrived at the campgrounds a short time later and found drove around until they found a square area to set up their tent. It was a nice patch of land, the ground was grassy and there was a fire pit in the corner. When Manny and Emma stepped outside of the car, they could smell the lake from their site. It was just down the road, not even a minutes walk.

The two of them spent the rest of the day setting up their tent and putting their things away or down at the beach. Once the sun began to set, they returned to their tent and got ready for the bonfire. Emma was skeptical about going, but Manny was excited; she was always the partier.

The party had already started when they arrived and the fire was blazing. Cans of already opened soda and beer littered the ground and picnic tables, and people were talking wildly around them. Manny grabbed Emma's hand and led her around the fire and toward the house. There was a familiar figure talking to someone else near the building, who Emma figured, Manny probably spotted first.

Emma took her free hand and fixed her hair nervously the second as Manny pulled her toward the boy. She looked down at herself, examining her outfit perfectly and fixing her shirt before Manny came to a complete hault. Emma's head snapped up.

"Emma, Manny," Sean said smiling at them, "you guys made it. This is my friend Alex, he owns his own car shop up here and he's been helping me out."

Both Manny and Emma said hello to Alex, who returned the greeting.

"I've got other guests to attend to, so I'll leave you guys alone. It was nice meeting you two." Alex smiled at the two girls before walking away, leaving them alone with Sean.

"Emma was considering not coming, but I told her to suck it up and dragged her along." Manny giggled.

"That sounds about right." Sean laughed; Emma slapped his arm playfully.

"Shut up, I did too want to come."

"Yea, you never could get enough of me."

Emma blushed, "No, Sean. For your information I came for the food. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a can of coke over there that's been calling my name."

She bit her tongue and turned away from Manny and Sean and made her way over to the cooler of soda. Even though she was still trying to overcome her eating disorder, she figured she wouldn't make her self look completely unstable at the moment and grab something. This was her night to have fun and let loose. Although it had been over a year since the shooting, her parents and peers continued to baby her.

"I see she hasn't changed since I left." Sean said to Manny.

"Nope, not by much."

"How has she been?"

"Good. I mean, other then getting over a little health issue last year, she's been really good." Manny dug her hands into the pockets of her mini skirt, "You don't still have feelings for her, do you?

Sean watched Emma walk over and take a sit on the other side of the fire pit. "Doesn't matter much now does it? I'm here, she's there."

"Sean, if you love her, tell her. It can't hurt"

Emma could see Sean clearly from her chair, and even while she was looking away she could see him watching her. For moments they just stared at each other from across the fire; Emma's blonde hair glowed with the rise of each flame, and Sean's eyes nearly light up each time they exchanged glances. She took her attention off of him and watched Manny walk away and mingle with a group of boys. She felt akward being alone and only hoped that Sean would come over to her and keep her company.

And he did.

Emma looked up at him like she had been waiting the entire night for him to come talk to her.

"You want to take a walk?"

"Sure." Emma got up and followed Sean away from the group of people and toward the woods.

Manny looked over at her and mouthed the words "Where are you going?" But Emma just shrugged. Where was Sean going to take her? Obviously he knew where he was going, though. He led her down paths and around trees. For a little while she thought they were lost until they broke through two large trees and a small sandy beach was exposed with a long dock sticking erect into the water.

"I come here a lot sometimes with my jet ski's." Sean said, leading Emma down the dock and taking a seat at the end. He took off his shoes and threw them behind him before putting his feet into the water. "It's really peaceful at night. It's a good place to think."

"Yea, I can see what you mean. It's beautiful out here." She sat down beside him and rolled her jeans before sticking her feet in the water beside him. The two of them were alone on the beach. Alone. Alone at the end of the dock with not a cloud in the sky, hundreds of stars overhead and nothing but clear water in front of them.

"It is, but being here with you makes it even more beautiful."

Emma felt her heart beat a thousand times faster and she felt as if her stomach was going to come out of her throat. She stared up into the sky, trying to find the words to say, but they never quite came to her. Sean was being so sweet, but she couldn't break it to him that she had a boyfriend. Not now.

"Thanks." Her voice quivered. She was nervous, but why?

"I'm sorry. I - I shouldn't have said that, but -" Sean paused and buried his head in his hands for a minute. He was speechless. He had always been emotional, but words had never really been an issue with him. Well, not unless he was dealing with Emma. "I missed you, Em. I've really, really missed you."

"Me, Sean? What about Ellie. She was your girlfriend before you left Degrassi. We were barely even talking then."

"Yea, she was, but.." Sean shook his head and looked to the left of him at the water. Obviously Emma didn't understand what he was feeling, so there was no use in explaining. "Forget it."

"No Sean, what? You can tell me."

"I can't. You wouldn't understand."

"How would I not understand?" Emma felt annoyed. If anything, she thought she would be the one who would understand best. After all, Sean used to come to her for everything. She missed that. "Now you're just going to shut me out? Sean, I'm just trying to get you to talk to me. We didn't leave on the best note and now I'm here. I'm not going to leave the same way."

"That's exactly it, Emma. I don't want you to leave." Sean felt his hands begin to shake. "Ever since I left Degrassi, all I could think about was you. When I stopped Rick from shooting you, that's when it hit me. That's when I realized how miserable I would be if I ever lost you. And of course being me, Sean Cameron, the big screw up, I ran for it because that's what I do when the going gets tough. Dammit." He kicked the water in front of him, creating a big splash that fell back on Emma's rolled up jeans.

Her fingers traced the dots of water, making designs of circles and lines going up her shins. "Sean, you're not a screw up."

"Can you prove that?"

"Do I have to? I think what I said speaks for itself."

Sean sighed and kicked the water again. Emma blinked long and hard, and began making small circles on the surface of the water with her toes. She looked at Sean, who had his head down and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm glad Manny and I ran into you."

"Me too." Sean looked up at the hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I love you Emma."

"Sean.."

"I can't help it, I really do think I'm in love with you."

"Sean.."

Before even realizing what he was doing, Sean leaned into Emma and kissed her softly on her lips. Emma kissed him back and all traces of Peter slipped from her mind. At that moment it was just Sean and her and she didn't want anything more than to stay there as long as possible. She leaned into Sean and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him even more passionately.

Everything seemed to slowly fall into place now for Sean. Emma was here with him and there was nothing else he wanted more. He didn't care about Ellie, he didn't care about Jay, he didn't care about his parents, or his car, or anything. It was all Emma. The apple of his eye for so many years. He placed his hand on her cheek and caressed the side of her face and smiled to himself. He never wanted to let go.

"Emma!"

Quickly Sean and Emma stopped kissing and turned their heads to the beach. Manny was standing there, furious.


	3. Chapter 3

The color drained from Emma's face and she could feel Sean's body get tense next to her.

"Manny, what are you doing here?"

"You have a boyfriend, what are _you _doing here?" Manny called.

"You have a boyfriend?" Sean asked, turning his attention away from Manny and focusing on Emma's pale face.

"Sean I.. I was going to tell you."

"When? After I made a complete idiot of myself." Sean stood up from the dock and slipped back into his shoes.

"Sean I.." Emma wanted to explain, but there didn't seem to be anything she could say that would matter right now. She was torn between two. When she was with Peter, she wanted him.When she was with Sean, she wanted him.

"Thanks for the encouragement, Manny." Sean said sarcastically, walking past her on the sand.

"Sean, I told you to tell Emma how you felt about her, I didn't tell you to make out with her."

"Have you ever spilled your heart out to someone? Do you know how hard it is to just leave the one person who you love above all others? Do you -"

"Yes I do and Yes I have!" Manny said angrily. She thought of Craig being in Vancouver and at that instant she realized how hard it must be for Sean, and she realized what she had encouraged him to do. "I'm not blaming you for anything, but Emma - Emma you should have known better."

"Thanks, mom." Emma said, storming past Manny and back through the pathways in the woods. She could hear Sean and Manny walking slowly behind her, their footsteps were quiet, showing that they were still a few feet behind them. She could hear them talking about her and this didn't bother her one bit. Emma knew she had messed up, and if anything, she would love to go back and repeat that mistake. As horrible as it was, and has horrible as she felt, she didn't want to go home. Not yet.

"So what's his name?" Sean asked when they had reached the party again.

"Peter."

"So.. what's he like?"

"He's nice."

"Oh come on, Emma. Now you're not going to talk to me?"

She couldn't. Not now. Her body ached with both regret and the longing to be able to just hug and kiss Sean like before. Never in a million years did she think that seeing this one boy again would bring back so many emotions. And never in a million years did she think that she would act on impulse like she did and kiss Sean even though she had a boyfriend. Emma was anything but a cheater. Her mind was lost in thought and her voice box felt as if it was never going to work again. She coughed.

"That's all I get, a cough?"

"Sean, what do you expect me to say?" Emma yelled. "I have a boyfriend, yes, and I feel horrible."

"How do you think I feel?" Sean was yelling now, but his voice was shaking. "I just told you I was in love with you and not only did you leave me hanging, you have a boyfriend. You always were a tease."

Emma's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"It's the truth Emma, and everyone sees it but you."

"You know what, I need to go." She rolled her eyes at Sean and bit her lip; she felt as if she was going to cry. "Manny, can we go please?"

Manny nodded and slowly followed her friend back to the car. Sean ran after the two of them and stuck his arm in the driver side doorway before Emma could close it.

"What Sean?"

"Is this goodbye?"

"I guess so. Good luck with the whole car thing." Emma was so overwhelmed and wanted nothing more than to get away from the party. She needed time to think because at the moment, she didn't know what she wanted. "Will you please move your arm. I need to shut my door."

Sean was hesitant for a moment before removing his arm. He stood there watching as Emma backed away from him and started driving down the road. There was nothing he could do but watch her drive, he didn't care if he looked ridiculous standing in the middle of the street, but his legs felt like they were cemented into the ground.

Once they got back to their site, Emma went straight to sleep. Aside from the fact that she already felt guilty enough, she didn't want to talk to Manny about anything that happened with Sean. Emma knew she had a lot of thinking to do and these guilty feelings were only the beginning. There was no reason to get Manny involved and make it worse.

"I want to leave tonight." Emma said climbing out of their tent the following morning to see Manny drinking coffee. "Where did you get that?"

Manny handed her bedhead friend a container of coffee and smiled, "Down the road. You won't believe who I ran into either."

"Don't tell me Sean works at a coffee shop now. Then he'd be like the perfect working man."

" Ha, funny. No, he doesn't. He stopped inside for a bagel and we talked for a minute. No biggie."

"I can't believe you took my car without asking me." Emma narrowed her eyes at Manny and shook her head. She took a sip of her coffee and spattered. "Manny, this is disgusting!"

Manny laughed hysterically.

Emma managed a smile. "Anyway, what did you and Sean talk about?"

"Nothing really." Manny took a sip of her coffee and sat down at the picnic table; Emma followed. "He just told me how glad he was to see you, and how sorry he was for taking things too far. Em, I told him to talk to you about how he felt. I didn't know he was going to kiss you."

"He told me he was in love with me." Emma stared forward and sighed, "Manny, Sean Cameron, the boy who never showed any emotions or spoke his mind told me he was in love with me."

"You're not in love with him are you?" Manny asked curiously.

Emma shook her head and looked at Manny with surprised eyes, "No! I'm with Peter. If I was in love with Sean, I wouldn't have let him leave."

The truth is, she had no control over Sean leaving. She wasn't his girlfriend at the time and they were barely even talking when he made his decision. Sean wouldn't have listened to her anyway because it was all him wanting to stay in Wasaga Beach. He thought it was better for him, which it probably was. When Sean decided something that was it. He wouldn't change his mind for anyone.

"Well Em, I hate to play the role of Dr. Phil, but it sounds to me like there's something there. There's still feelings for Sean in your heart."

"Manny, I know that. I just - I just want to leave before I do something even more stupid than what I've already done. If we go back to Toronto now, I won't feel so bad about Sean because I'll be with Peter. And gradually I can just let Sean go because I doubt we'll see him again for a long time. Maybe even never."

"But we just got here. What would you tell Spike? And Snake? They don't expect us back for another two days."

"Just tell them I got sick or something. It's not like they don't worry about me enough as it is."

By noon the two girls had finished packing and were on their way back to Toronto. Neither Manny or Emma had much to say; Manny was upset because Emma wanted to leave, and Emma was upset with what she had gotten herself into. She felt like such an idiot for leading Sean on like that, although, she was guilty of having feelings for him still. It wasn't all his fault. And not only that, but she ruined the weekend for her best friend.

She didn't want to leave on this note. She wasn't going to just desert Sean without saying a real goodbye, or apologzing. Emma just wouldn't have that, she never would.

Quickly, she turned off the road they were currently on and drove down a side road until they reached the same gas station they had seen Sean at the previous day. "Manny, we need to make a quick stop."

"You're going to talk to Sean?"

"Just for a minute." Emma got out of the car and stood with her hand on the top of the door, "I want to apologize before we go."

She shut the door and walked over to the car garage where a tall, grey haired man was sitting in a wooden chair. He was polishing a piece of metal with a greasy washcloth and looked up, startled, when Emma walked up to him.

"May I help you, miss?"

Emma cleared her throat. "I'm looking for Sean Cameron. Is he here by any chance?"

The man shook his head and frowned. "No, I'm sorry ma'am. He called in, said he wouldn't be in today. Can I take a message?"

"Um.. can you just tell him Emma stopped by?"

"Will do."

"Thanks."

The man waved and Emma walked back to the car, disappointed. Her stomach twisted with guilt, but she knew she had to just forget about Sean. It wasn't her fault she couldn't talk to him right now. It wasn't her fault she couldn't apologize. Maybe Sean would get the message that she stopped by and try and call her. She could only hope. Hopefully Sean wasn't too mad at her. Even though she was extremely happy with Peter, and even though Sean still had that little place in her heart she wasn't going to just let things go like this. Even if all they were going to be in the future was friends she would be happy. _Friend Sean is better than no Sean._


End file.
